RECKLESS LOVE – Spirit

To be honest, I’m not sure why I keep following this band, when it’s pretty clear that I’m not exactly their biggest fan. Maybe I’m just fond this kind of music and really want this band to succeed. They were first brought to my attention when they released their self titled debut back in 2010 as I knew that singer Olli Herman was once the singer in Swedish glam metal band Crashdïet, then known as Olliver Twisted and he sang on their second album The Unattractive Revolution (2007) and did one tour with them before he left to continue with this lot back in his native Finland. Huge mistake if you ask me. Their debut album wasn’t anything more than a pop record disguised as a hard rock glam record. The songs were so light weight and lame that even second-rate Poison stuff like Pretty Boy Floyd or Tigertailz sounded heavy in comparison. But since the guys – and especially Herman has been very hardcore in his way of describing his love for the melodic hard rock, glam and sleaze, I’m thinking something good must come out of his band sooner or later. So I gave them a second chance with their follow up, Animal Attraction from 2011. Didn’t work! I have never judged a band for not being original enough, quite the contrary. I don’t care about that stuff, I want good songs and good performances and I’d like the musicians to be better than your average CC DeVille or Eddie Ojeda – if I can have that, I’m good. But these guys… Every melody, every chorus, every riff, everything has been done to death before and to my ears, their music sounds like yesterday’s news. I’d like to compare them to guys like Crazy Lixx, Crashdïet or Dynazty, bands that have great musicians, great songs and a true passion for their music, music that shows their influences well, but still sound fresh, alive and rocking.

So why even bother with this new album, one might ask. Well, I’m not sure, but the truth might be that I just can’t help myself. I want these guys to come up with an album that shuts my mouth. I kinda like it when that happens and believe you me, it has happened before. So here we go once more. The first song on the album, the single “Night On Fire” takes me a bit off guard. This is a glam pop rock song and I really should hate it. But I don’t. I really like it. The melody sticks like glue and the chorus is really contagious and I’m thinking the boys might be up to something here. But I’m back to earth already by the second song “Bad Lovin'” (really….!). Both music and lyrics are too cliché to even be a cliché. And the “whoa, whoa, nanananana”… C’mon already! And check out this title – “I Love Heavy Metal”. I’m sure you do guys, but the title is embarrassing. Herman here name drops every melodic hard rock band and hit song from 1986 – 1991, but the thing is, none of the bands mentioned can be categorised as heavy metal and the song itself isn’t even close to be a metal song. It’s an ordinary melodic rock track. “Favourite Flavour” might not go down in history as a masterpiece, but I like it – it’s catchy and has a nice groove and “Edge Of Our Dreams” is a very good pop ballad that could very well result in a hit song. After that things go down hill again. “Sex, Drugs And Reckless Love” is cheesy and embarrassing, “Metal Ass” is actually a metal song, but the song is crap and the lyrics couldn’t be more stupid and dumb and “So Happy I Could Die” is a decent rocker, but the “Oh Yeah!” in the chorus is complete rip off from Mötley Crüe’s “Kickstart My Heart”. Still, the band has the decency to make sure we leave the album on a good note – “Hot Rain” is a very good ballad with big Def Leppard influences.

This third album is just another Reckless Love album. If you liked two first records, I can’t see any reason why you wouldn’t like this, but most of all I can’t see any reason why anyone would dig this at all. The songs are pointless and the production and performances are light weight and lame. I’m sure these guys are all good enough musicians, but why be content playing this second-rate glam pop? Still, Reckless Love probably have their fans, I mean there are still people out their who seriously praise bands such as Tuff and Southgang, but I’m not one of them. To me, Reckless Love comes across like a Steel Panther without the humour and the piss takes. The guys want so badly to be Cali dudes, but they are from Finland – a whole universe away. But I will give them a golf applause for trying. Will I give them another chance when they release album # 4? Probably…